Our Man at Sundance

I actually had a pretty slack day today.  I got invited to ski by a sales agent so managed to squeeze in 3 ½ hours on the Park City slopes, which are literally 4 blocks from the main street with a lift going right into town.

I actually had a pretty slack day today.  I got invited to ski by a sales agent so managed to squeeze in 3 ½ hours on the Park City slopes, which are literally 4 blocks from the main street with a lift going right into town.

I’d assumed film execs would be on the slopes, but it was very quiet and the lifties said the whole week of Sundance is quiet.

Made it to a big party held by Cinetic (who is repping The Babadook for a US sale) that was on two stories overlooking Main St.  We managed to walk right in but there were a lot of people lining up in the cold to get in.  As all things Sundance – everyone was very friendly and chatty so had a great time.

 So the films that I keep hearing about are:

• Whiplash (Sony picked up most of the world),

• I Origins, which I loved (Fox Searchlight picked up for the world),

• Richard Linklater’s Boyhood,
• The Babadook – Sorry I know I'm biased but seriously this young fest fan came up to me yesterday, saw my Babadook badge and said he was freaked out by the film: “It’s like The Shining on crack!”
• Laggies,
• Infinitely Polar Bear.

Sundance celebrities here include Zach Braff, Keira Knightly, Ethan Hawke, Kurt Russell, Robert DeNiro, Gwynneth Paltrow, Selena Gomez and, proof that the festival may be getting too broad, Harry Stiles from One Direction.  A colleague told me they saw John Lithgow doing a photo shoot and someone yells out to him “Hey are you on TV?”